Philomena Develsbourne
Philomena Develsbourne, otherwise known as Aunt Phil, is a meddling, jack-of-all-trades sexagenarian widow/divorcee and the main character of The Grey Menace. Life 1940s-1950s Philomena Katyadita Develsbourne (née Mangkoedimedjo, formerly Philomena DuBois and Philomena Draganov, also known professionally as Philly Dee) was born on 11 April, 1946, in Paterosari, Indonesia, as the twin sister of Matilda Willem, from a Dutch-Indonesian couple, Prabowo Mangkoedimedjo and Eleanor Mangkoedimedjo (known as Laila Mulyati at the time). Her first name was taken from her great-great-grandmother, Filomena Baart, while her middle name was taken from the Russian song Katyusha. She was the more reserved of the two sisters, and displayed a more introverted behaviour growing up compared to her sister Tilly--she had a tendency to keep to herself. Her best friends were Erna Lubis, Sumirna Armanto, Hilda Oenger, and Maya Hapsari, whom were part of one gang along with her sister Tilly. 1950s-1960s Both she and Tilly went to school at Caraka Badiran School. Despite their introverted tendencies, both Philly and Tilly were quite popular for their looks. Tilly started dating Hugo Willem in 1961. The two sisters planned on becoming well-known women that traveled the world, inspired by the stories of their Boer great-great-grandfather, Thomas Schuyler and their great-uncle Lionel Schuyler, who were both travelers. Both of them were very smart and excelled in their Socials program at high school. This led them to the plan on studying Psychology at the University of Indonesia and becoming brilliant women. Both also enjoyed the arts very well and wanted to perform together as a singing duet, something they did for a few years in their hometown, when they were known as the Angsa Kembar. While Philly was particularly talented at stage performances, Tilly was talented at painting. 1960s-1980s Philly went on to study Psychology at UI, and at that time, lived in an all-girls boarding house owned by Greta Warouw in Kemayoran, coming home to Paterosari once in a while. She wished to get away from her mother upon graduation and was sent off to live with her aunt Coralea Schuyler in Miami, Florida, in 1970. It was there that she met her aunt's neighbor's (Phyllis Develsbourne) nephew, Phillip Develsbourne and fell in love. They got engaged and got married--first in the United States with her husband's family, and second in Indonesia with her family--and moved to Savannah, Georgia, where she lived at the stately house of the Develsbourne family, Shellspyre Grove. Though close with and loved by her in-laws, she was rather dismayed at the latent racism among the family's social circles. Phillip started his job travelling the world as an archaeologist and Philly accompanied him, singing in jazz clubs, theaters, and cabarets under the stage name Philly Dee. Phil and Phillip lived in Australia in 1985-1989, in the city of Perth. They would often go to the Pilbara, a Northwestern region in Australia famed for its beautiful coastline, red earth deserts, canyons, and gorges at the Karajini National Park. Phillip was studying the indigenous petroglyphs and fossilised dinosaur footprints in the Burrup Peninsular. Later life In 1990, she moved to New York, while also travelling the world once more. In 2001, her Aunt Lea passed away, bequeathing Phil her house in Miami. She moved there again in 2002, so her husband could retire there, until he died in 2005. Phil married again, first to Albert DuBois (2008-2009), and second to Robert Draganov (2010-2011). In 2012, she moved to Paterosari, Indonesia. Personality Appearance In her youth, she was a thin, cheery-faced girl with sharp, tired eyes. She became much taller in her teenage years, as she gained weight and had acne. She became thin again at the end of her teen years, and stopped growing at a height of 181 cm. In her twenties, she was highly influenced by Hollywood stars, being a fan of Marlene Dietrich and Bette Davis. In her older years, she became a rather intimidating-looking woman, with greying black hair and an impression of haughtiness in her gait that would sort of dissolve as she spoke, appearing more grandmotherly and inquisitively caring. She loved draperies like shawls, sweaters, scarves and the likes, and enjoyed wearing long skirts with a preference for boots and rather conservative shoes. Relationships Eleanor Mangkoedimedjo Phil has a close and complex relationship with her mother. Nor is a caring mother and understands Phil well, but she can be overly-critical and childish when she's emotional, something Phil cannot stand. When Philly and Tilly were children, Nor was somewhat protective of them and was quite an involved parent, but she learned to let loose a bit when the girls were older. Still, Phil felt stifled by Nor's overbearing attitude at times, which is why she wished to move away upon graduation from college. Nor, having overheard this, was emotionally wounded, but decided to grant her daughter her wish, understanding that she was no longer a child. She sent Phil to live with her elder sister Lea in Miami. While Phil lived abroad, Nor would only meet her when she came to visit Phil, manipulating ways so that Phil didn't have to go home (she secretly worked together with Phil's husband Phillip to make sure that Phil didn't went home). She wanted her daughter to have lived a full life when she went home, so that she could never go away again. For many years, Nor showed her daughter that she was an emotionally tough woman, but when she relayed this to Phil, she revealed that it's the only way to contain herself from falling apart. Since Phil moved back home, she and Nor would often have conversations at night, before they went to bed. Much of their interactions felt like nothing much had changed since she left as a young adult, but Phil was rather amazed at how much she had to catch up with in the years that she was away. Phil would confide in Nor about the problems that she faces, and Nor would give her advice. Character Conception The character was first conceived in 2012, initially as simply a tempestuous older American woman with curlers. Through a facebook app that enabled the users to insert their faces into vintage yearbook photos, Adit had made a series of quirky relatives of an oddball family. One particular picture that he liked was that of a woman with cat eye glasses, and this was the first inspiration for the character of Aunt Phil. He had gotten the name from Mrs. Doubtfire, when a character named 'Aunt Phil' was mentioned (which was actually a gay man) and the last name was a homage to Salome Otterbourne from Agatha Christie's 'Death On the Nile' and Cruella de Vil from '101 Dalmatians'. Philomena Develsbourne was first conceived as a woman with nine marriages behind her, some ending in divorce and some in deaths. Adit had made twitter and facebook accounts for her and used them as mediums of character exploration, frequently mentioning her past husbands and eccentric relatives. After attaining a wig and a couple of old clothes, Adit donned her character and began exploring the art of theatrical drag. She was often regarded as Adit's aunt, and her appearances in photos would be explained as 'visits from Salem'. Creativity with the material became hard because Adit was not familiar with the life of an American and an American in Salem, having only known of such things from pop culture. It was then decided that the character of Aunt Phil should be Indonesian and Dutch in order for Adit to be able to relate to her more. One of the first opportunities to show her character was at a speech competition on February 9, 2013 at Labschool Kebayoran, in which the character was explained as having recently moved to Indonesia to live with her daughter and son-in-law after living abroad for so many years. This idea was then changed into her niece and nephew-in-law, along with the addition of her great-niece, her mother, and a more 'detailed' set of relatives and friends drawn mostly from the appearances of Adit's own relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Category:Characters Category:Female Characters